Hunter&#39;s blind



J. VAN VESSEM HUNIERS BLIND Dec. 11, 1951 Filed March 2 1950 IN VEN TOR. Joan VANVEssEM ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 11,1951

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

This invention relates generally to camouflaged shelters or blinds of the kind used by hunters of game, and more particularly to a portable blind especially adapted for the hunting of water-fowl such as ducks and the like.

It is the primary object of my invention to provide a duck blind which is portable and which can be readily mounted upon or secured to a boat. Another object of my invention is to provide A group of eyelets 6 is provided near each of the ends 4 and 5, and said ends are joined to each other by lacing I, thus stretching the canvas strip so that it embraces the boat snugly.

In order to minimize the wear on the body I which may occur at the bow and stern of the boat R, three reinforcing strips 8 of wood or iron are secured to the canvas body interiorly thereof in horizontally spaced relationship. One

a duck blind which can be utilized both on land 10 of said strips 8 is medially disposed on the body I and on water. so as to lie against the bow of the boat R. The

Still another object of my invention is to proother two strips 8 are so located as to lie against vide a blind of the character described, having the corners of the stern of the boat. Thereby, quickly removable supporting means. not only are the corners reinforced against wear,

A further object of my invention is to provide but the entire body I is maintained erect and a blind of the character described, which is simslightly spaced from contact with the boat so ple in construction, light in weight, and economthat it will be prevented from rubbing against ical to manufacture. the sides of the boat and sagging.

Other objects and advantages of the inven- The upper edge 2 of the body I is doubled over tion will be apparent during the course of the and stitched longitudinally to formahem 9. This following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same:

ing mounted thereon a hunter's blind embodying the features of my-invention.

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of a portion of the interior of the blind.

exterior of the blind shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view, partly in elevation, taken on line 44 of Fig. 1, showing the manner in which the blind is supported on a boat.

mottled appearance. The width (or height) of the body I is such that its upper edge 2 will extend well above the gunwale .G of the boat R while water-line of the boat.

The length of the body is slightly less than the periphery of the gunwale G of the boat, so

that the ends 4 and 5 of the body I do not meet when the body is mounted on the boat.

titching is interrupted at certain spaced points I Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a rowboat, hav- Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of a portion of the Fig. 5 is a detail view in elevation of a form The canvas is water-proofed and, for purposes of camouflage, it is also desirable that it have a its bottom edge 3 will be at or slightly below the and vertical stitching is applied to form pockets III, the underside of which is open.

.Beneath each of the pockets l0 and vertically aligned therewith, a loop I l of canvas is provided, said loop being sewn to the body I. As many pairs of pockets III and loops I l as may be desired may be provided on the body I, however, in most instances a total of from six to ten of these pairs is adequate.

Each pair of pockets I0 and loops II is adapted to receive a supporting member I2 which is in the form of a metal rod having a rolled end I3 which fits in the pocket Ill. The stem I4 of the rod extends through .the loop II and is thereby maintained upright. The stem I4 extends below the gunwale G exteriorly of the boat R. The supporting member is also' provided with a laterally extending branch I5 which is bent at right angles to form a vertically depending element I5 which is parallel to stem I4.

The branch l5 rests upon the gunwale G of the boat and the element I6 extends alongside the gunwale interiorly of the boat. Thereby the edge 2 of the body I is maintained in an elevated position above the boat and the gunwale is bracketed between the portions I4 and I6 of the supporting member so that the member I2 will not slide off the gunwale G.

In order to permit the oars of the boat to extend through the blind, flaps I! are provided in the body I adjacent the location of the oar-lock journals L. These flaps permit the oars to be used without disturbing the blind.

body I is doubled over so as to overlie the exterior side of the body, and this doubled over portion is stitched vertically at spaced points to form a plurality of pockets or sockets 18 which extend completely around the lower edge of the body I. A narrow strip of canvas is secured to the body I in parallel relationship to the edge 3, this strip being stitched to form a plurality of loops l9 which are spaced vertically from the sockets I8. The sockets are adapted to receive the stems of cover or greenery N such as marsh reeds, cat-tails and the like which are utilized to camouflage the boat. The reeds N extend through the loops l9, which are in vertical alignment with the sockets I8, and thereby the reeds are maintained in an upright position.

In order that the cover shall appear as natural as possible, I have made the loops l9 quite large so that one loop will receive th reeds which are contained in a pair of adjoining sockets I8. Thereby the reeds are allowed to spread out naturally near their tops instead of being tightly bunched together.

In Fig. 1 I have merely shown one bunch of reeds N for illustrative purposes. However, it will be understood that the entire exterior of the blind will be provided with greenery so that the boat will be completely camouflaged.

When thus camouflaged, the boat can be rowed to a likely spot and will then serve as a very satisfactory duck blind or the like. The blind is very easily mounted on the boat, and it is equally easy to disassemble it for transportation or storage. Inasmuch as the greenery N is easily removable from the body I, it may be discarded whenever desired and may be replaced by fresh greenery.

The blind also serves to shield the hunters from spray and spindrift and provides a windbreak.

The use of my novel form of blind is not limited to boats or the hunting of water-fowl. It will be apparent that the blind may be set up on land such as in a marsh or on a sand spit or in Wooded areas for the purpose of hunting fowl or game.

For this purpose I provide (Fig.5) an alternate set of supporting members l2 which are sub stantially longer than the supporting members [2. The members It! have a rolled end l3 and a stern portion l4 and fit into the pockets I and loops ll of the body I in the manner heretofore described. The end 26 of the member I2 is driven into the ground and thus the blind is supported at any selected height.

It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that variou changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the subjoinedclaims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A portable hunters blind comprising a flexible body forming an enclosure, support receiving pockets provided on the upper marginal portion of said body, rigid support members slidable into said pockets to maintain said body in an elevated position, and sockets provided on an opposite marginal portion of the exterior of said body to retain camouflage greenery.

2. A portable hunters blind comprising a substantially rectangular body forming an enclosure, pockets provided along the upper marginal edge of said body, rigid support members receivable in said pockets to maintain said body in elevated position, and sockets provided along the lower marginal edge of the exterior of said body to receive camouiiaging greenery, said sockets and pockets being on opposite sides of said body.

3. A portable hunters blind comprising a substantially rectangular flexible body of sheet ma.- terial forming an enclosure, means for supporting said body in a vertical position, means provided on said body for loosely retaining camoufiaging greenery, and adjustable means for releasably joining the free ends of said body to each other.

4. A portable hunters blind comprising a substantially rectangular flexible body forming an enclosure, pockets provided on the upper edge of said body, rigid support members slidable into said pockets to maintain said body in elevated position, sockets provided on said body on the side opposite said pockets to loosely retain camouflaging greenery, and adjustable means for releasably securing the free ends of said body to each other, whereby an elevated enclosure is formed. 7

5. A portable hunters blind consisting of substantially rectangular body of flexible sheet material foldable to form an enclosure, the upper marginal edge of said body being folded inwardly upon itself and secured to the body at horizontally spaced points to form pockets, a rigid vertical support member slidably retained in each of said pockets to maintain said body in a vertical position, the lower marginal edge of said body being folded outwardly upon itself and secured to the body at horizontally spaced points to form sockets for retaining camouflaging greenery, and adjustable fastening means provided on the free ends of said body for releasably securing said ends to each other.

6. In a portable hunters blind for use on a boat, the combination of a substantially rectangular body of sheet material foldable to form an enclosure, horizontally spaced pockets provided on the upper marginal edge of said body, horizontally spaced sockets for retaining camouflaging greenery provided on the lower marginal edge of said body on the side opposite said pockets, a rigid vertical support member slidably retained in each of said pockets to maintain said body in a vertical position, said support member terminating at its lower end in horizontallyspaced vertically extending bracket arms, the distance between said arms being greater than the width of the gunwale of the boat on which said blind is to be mounted, and adjustable fastening means provided on the free ends of said body for releasably securing said ends to each other.

'1. A combination as defined in claim 6 wherein the length of said support member is less than the vertical dimension of said body whereby the lower marginal edge of said body is disposed below the lower end of said support member.

JOHN VAN VESSEM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 333,391 Casaday Dec. 29, 1835 335,190 Hannum Feb. 2, 1886 550,762 Murphy et a1 Dec. 3, 1895 783,765 Thorne et a1 Feb. 28, 1905 

